In the Shadow of Evil Book 2

by Nancy C. Weeks

  In the Shadow of Evil

  Shadows and Light Book 2

  Nancy C. Weeks

  In memory of my parents: You taught me to love by loving me, taught me strength by being strong, taught me compassion by being compassionate to everyone.

  This one is for you.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Epilogue

  A Note from the Author

  Excerpt from In the Shadow of Malice Book 3

  Books by Nancy C. Weeks

  Acknowledgments

  Copyright Page

  One

  Anne Arundel County, Maryland

  * * *

  Damn it, Nick. Stop ignoring me.

  Jennie McKenzie loosened her grip on her cell phone and dialed her foster brother again from the passenger seat of the SUV. Pick up. Pick up. God, please pick up.

  Nick didn’t know it yet, but they were getting the hell away from Mendoza—today. And if Nick tried to talk her out of it, she would drag him out by his ear.

  When the call went directly to voice mail, a gut-wrenching dread cramped her stomach, forcing acid into her throat.

  Why wasn’t he answering his damn phone?

  Her tension spiked when the vehicle slowed and stopped on the shoulder of the two-lane country road. Jennie tore her eyes away from the silent cell phone and peeked over at the man in the driver’s seat.

  Jared McNeil. Not one of Elías Mendoza’s thugs, but a cop, an undercover cop.

  Her racing heart settled with a glimpse of him. The calming effect Jared had on her was crazy. Jennie didn’t trust anyone except Nick. But somehow, she also trusted the man sitting next to her.

  A low growl rose from the back of Jared’s throat. “Jennie, I need your decision.” His hands fisted on the steering wheel and the tiny muscle in his jaw pulsed. “I have no grounds to remove you from Mendoza’s home. But since you’re a minor, and we arrested the two men with you at the testing center, I can at least place you in protective custody until we contact your caseworker.”

  “What about Nick?”

  A pair of robins flew in front of the passenger window from the tall oaks lining the road. They momentarily perched on the hood of the SUV, then dashed off to the other side of the lane. That simple display of carefree abandonment cut deep into Jennie. As her fingers dug into her palm, she let out a shaky breath and said, “I can’t leave without him.”

  “I tried to talk to him. He blew me off. By placing you in protective custody…”

  “No. I won’t go anywhere without Nick.”

  Jared’s expression flipped from concerned to frigid. It was like a curtain dropped, cutting off his emotions.

  Jennie lowered her head. “Nick isn’t … he doesn’t warm up to people well. But Jared, he’s not Mendoza’s lackey.”

  She was wasting her breath. His jaw was clenched, and the muscles in his arms and shoulders grew taut. She winced when his unhappy gaze met hers.

  “Nick isn’t just my foster brother. He’s my best friend and has had my back since my parents died. I can’t leave him with Mendoza. He’ll turn Nick into a carbon copy of himself.”

  “Any replies to your call?”

  “It’s going right to voicemail.”

  Last month, Nick turned eighteen, and Mendoza’s gift was a job with his organization. Nick was living a dream and enjoying a peek at a lifestyle he would never have. Her brother repaid Mendoza with his loyalty, to the point that he was copying his mannerisms—the way Mendoza walked, dressed, and spoke. That fact alone set Jennie on edge.

  “Maybe that’s your answer. He wants to stay with Mendoza. You can’t make Nick into something he’s not, Jennie. He’s been in the foster care program his entire life. That changes a person. He isn’t like you.”

  “You’re wrong about Nick. And, that’s not what is going on here.” Something was off. If only she could talk to Nick… or Father Michael. Her godfather was on a mission for the Vatican in a remote area of South America, and Jennie hadn’t been able to reach him during the chaos and upheaval of the last four months.

  Then a thought struck her like an open-hand slap across the face. She looked at Jared. “Shit, you can’t. . . damn it, Jared. Not Nick! You can’t use him to get to Mendoza.”

  “Jennie—”

  “No. Leaving him behind—you will turn him into what you believe he is.” And that would rip my heart in two.

  Jared shook his head and started the SUV. The turnoff to Mendoza’s long driveway was less than a mile away. Once they pulled onto the private road, Mendoza’s cameras would pick them up, which left very little time for Jennie to change Jared’s mind. The walls inside the car closed in on her and she struggled to breathe. Don’t back down.

  “You spoke to your caseworker?” His voice, controlled—almost calculated.

  “She’s arranging a place for us to stay.”

  Jared let out a noisy sigh, reached for the key in the ignition, and turned off the motor. “Mendoza’s obsessively protective of you. Why?”

  It took a moment for Jennie’s mind to form an answer. “I saved his life.”

  “It’s more than that.”

  Jennie could only nod. She didn’t have an answer. All she knew for sure was that her soon-to-be guardian was soulless. He watched her, studied her like a bug under a magnifying glass; he made her skin crawl. It wasn’t sexual. There was something far more sinister than lust in Mendoza’s eyes. His presence shriveled her spirit.

  She couldn’t face Jared. It was too hard to see the disappointment in his eyes. Instead, she looked out the front window. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you. I know nothing about Mendoza, never met him before that day in downtown Little Italy.” She closed her eyes and inhaled a cleansing breath. When she opened them, she peeked at Jared, who stared at the massive estate they could barely see through the trees. She cleared her throat. “He was choking, and none of the men with him did anything to help. I think they wanted him dead. And I’m not sure I blame them.”

  Jennie’s mind replayed the horrific nightmare. In that moment on the sidewalk when Elías Mendoza’s brooding, dark eyes held hers, the universe shifted. There had been something familiar about him, and his presence sucked the life right out of her. Paralyzed and breathless, she could not move.

  Mendoza took in a bite of pasta with shrimp and swallowed. In a split second, his eyes widened, and he darted from his chair, grabbing his throat. Nick tugged at her arm, then jumped the concrete barrier separating the restaurant from the sidewalk and tried the Heimlich maneuver. But he couldn’t dislodge the obstruction. His plea for her help finally penetrated her dazed state, and she joined Nick on the patio. She didn’t have the strength to lift Mendoza, but she had first aid training. She repositioned Nick’s hands. After several abdominal thrusts, the large bite of shrimp broke free.


  “Why didn’t Mendoza just hand us a twenty and have us removed from his sight? We were nothing to him.” Jennie let out a shaky breath. “He manipulated the foster care program so we could live with him. We were in his home that night. The system doesn’t work that fast. None of it makes any sense.”

  “Last chance, Jennie,” he murmured. “I turn down Mendoza’s private drive…”

  “I’ll never turn my back on Nick.”

  She shifted toward the front window. Jared let out a string of obscenities that made Jennie cringe. He turned the key and drove the last quarter of a mile, turning left onto the narrow road. The vehicle’s wheels crunched on the gravel of the circular driveway near the front entrance. Beyond the house, manicured lawns covered three acres extending into woodland. The helicopter sat on the heliport behind the pool and tennis court.

  “He’s taking a trip today to Mexico City. Nick and I are supposed to go with him.”

  She faced the man next to her. Jared was working undercover to take down Mendoza and planned to use Nick to help him. If she couldn’t convince him to back off, he was going to get himself, and Nick, killed.

  “I’ve known Elías Mendoza for four months. You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

  “I know who Mendoza is, Jennie.”

  “I’m not some stupid kid. You’re only what? Five years older than me?”

  “Seven. So?”

  “Mendoza is…I sense what’s inside him, and you’re crazy if you think you can fool someone like him.” Jennie ignored the shiver that wracked her body. “And you want to use Nick—” She gulped in a deep breath and exhaled. “My mom would’ve called Mendoza the Devil.”

  “Then let me get you the hell away from here.” He forced the words through clenched teeth. “Once you’re inside, I can’t protect you. Look, Nick knows what he’s providing Mendoza. He’s not innocent, but he’s still a kid, a stupid kid.” Jared rubbed the back of his neck. “I wanted to turn him, have him work with us. With his hacking skills, he’s our best way into Mendoza’s organization. But I get it, bad idea.” He placed his hand over Jennie’s fisted hands. “We’ll find another avenue. I’ll go in for him. You stay here. Hide on the floorboard.”

  “Nick won’t leave with you, but he’ll listen to me. He’ll come just because I ask him to. I have to do this.” Before Jared would try to stop her, she opened the passenger door, grabbed her backpack, and raced up the steps of the red brick colonial. The soft fragrance from the blooming begonias, lavender, and sweet peas in the beds near the door assaulted her senses and slowed her down.

  How did such beauty thrive here?

  Wrenching her mind away from the familiar scents, she burst through the front door, her heart pounding. The guard in the foyer stepped out of her path as she scurried past him.

  “Miss McKenzie, is there something wrong? Can I help you?” he asked, but Jennie ignored him and jogged up the curved staircase, her sneakers squeaking on the polished hardwood.

  “Nick, where are you? Damn it, answer me.”

  She hurried into her room and paid no attention to the thick, padded wall covering, lush carpet, or opulent furnishings. Like the rest of the house, it was a pretty shell that left her cold. She tugged her backpack off and, opening the numerous drawers in the walk-in closet, she yanked out only the original items she had brought into the house. She left everything Mendoza purchased untouched. She wanted nothing from him.

  When she didn’t find Nick in his room, she opened his closet door and reached into his hiding place for a small box of odds and ends he’d saved over the years. Pulling a couple of his favorite T-shirts and jeans off their hangers, she stuffed everything in her pack.

  After a quick check of the second floor, she headed downstairs and ran into Mendoza’s personal assistant.

  “Where’s Nick?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. Talk to Mendoza.”

  She ran to Elías Mendoza’s private study, in the wing at the back of the house. She shoved passed the guard and reached for the doorknob. He yanked her hand away, placing his body in front of the door.

  “You have certain privileges on the estate, Miss McKenzie, but no one gets through this door without this.” He held a black metal detector. Jennie raised her arms. After the guard ran the security wand along her body, he allowed her to enter.

  She stormed into the private domain that few had the privilege of entering.

  “Where’s Nick?”

  The immaculately dressed man behind the mahogany desk kept his focus on the person on the other end of his phone conversation as his fingers toyed with a gold pen.

  “We will be landing in five hours. I want my orders carried out. No, nos entendemos? Bueno,” he said before laying the handset on the desk. When his dark eyes met Jennie’s, she stepped back. He wasn’t a tall man, but his intense, sadistic personality oozed power.

  “Rudeness doesn’t become you, Jennifer Marie. You forget yourself.”

  His glare bore into her, his facial features hard as stone. She had seen the look before, but never had he aimed it at her.

  “I can’t find Nick.”

  Mendoza leaned back in his chair, flipping the pen back and forth between his fingers. “So much concern for that mutt. As you can see, he isn’t here.”

  Jennie’s fist tightened. If only Nick could see the contempt in his idol’s eyes right now. “My brother isn’t a mutt.”

  “He’s no relation to you. Have you finished packing? The plane to Mexico City leaves in an hour.”

  Jennie cleared her throat and tried not to stutter. “It’s time for Nick and me to leave. I appreciate everything you have done for us, but we don’t belong here.”

  “Is that so?”

  She swallowed, keeping eye contact as her pulse beat between her ears. She was surprised the sound didn’t echo against the walls. “We appreciate that you want to reward us for helping you, but there’s no need.” She shrugged. “We would have done the same for anyone. You don’t need to saddle yourself with two teenagers when you’re moving back to Mexico.”

  Mendoza’s eyes traveled the length of her. “I’m your guardian, Jennifer Marie. Where I go, you go.”

  “Not yet. The official papers haven’t been signed.” Jennie looked everywhere except at him.

  “And how do you think you are going to accomplish your dreams of college living on the streets of Baltimore?” He clenched his hands together and rested them on the desk. The silence that followed was deafening. “My people are still trying to locate your godfather. What will he say when he finds out I allowed you to go back to living in an abandoned building like a city rat?”

  Heat rose in Jennie’s cheeks. “The building wasn’t abandoned, just old.” She wasn’t a runaway. People loved her, cared for her. Her godfather would move heaven and earth for her. But the man in front of her saw only what he wanted to see.

  “We’re not going back to Baltimore. I contacted Mrs. Arnold, my foster care caseworker this morning during one of the SAT breaks.” Jennie fussed with her cotton skirt. “There was a big misunderstanding. Mr. Stephenson is fine. Nick only knocked him out. We thought…well, he’s alive and well.”

  She forced down the lump in her throat and shuddered at the memory of the last family she had been placed with. She could still feel Mr. Stephenson’s hands on her body, pinching her breast, trying to force his tongue down her throat. The memory made her want to heave her breakfast muffin and coffee. And the way his body dropped to the floor, the horrid sight of blood staining the carpet after Nick slammed the base of a lamp over his head, still gave her nightmares.

  “And your plan is to turn your back on all I can offer you, for what? To live under the roof of a child molester?”

  “No, of course not. Mrs. Arnold will find us another family until we finish high school next year.”

  Jennie held her breath and stiffened her leg muscles to keep from fidgeting. When Mendoza finally spoke, his voice was laced with something J
ennie had never heard before.

  Hatred.

  “Jennifer Marie, who else did you speak to during your break?” He broke eye contact, his concentration fixed on the computer monitor on his desk.

  My God, he hates me. Why am I here?

  “No one.”

  “I don’t believe you, mi querida.”

  His eyes turned black, cold. Jennie couldn’t take in a breath.

  He knows...about Jared.

  Mendoza eased back in his chair. “We haven’t spent much time together during your stay. That’s my fault. I thought you understood.” He faced her. “No one betrays me.” He reached for the monitor on his desk and turned it toward Jennie. When she didn’t break eye contact, he nodded toward the monitor.

  “Your actions have consequences.” His voice was so calm, it chilled her to the bone.

  Oh, Nick. Where are you?

  Mendoza rose and stood beside her. His hands grabbed the sides of her head and forced her to face the monitor. The security camera overlooked a patch of lawn off the rear patio by the pool. Several of Mendoza’s men circled a man with dark hair grown down below his shoulders. His T-shirt clung to his athletic body. It took only seconds for the horror to slam home.

  “Nick? No, make them stop!”

  Each man took a turn striking Nick, his face beaten almost beyond recognition. Blood streamed from his eyes, nose, and mouth. His knees buckled and he dropped to the ground. One of the men kicked him in the ribs.

  Jennie began to tremble. She yanked out of Mendoza’s hold and dashed to the French doors. Mendoza grabbed a fistful of her hair and heaved her up against him.